Christmas Eve in the Castle
by Annie2
Summary: Clark brings something for Lex.
1. Default Chapter

Christmas Eve in the Castle by Annie  
  
Rated PG Summary: Christmas Eve; Clark brings Lex a present; pre-slash Disclaimer: Still not mine, although I did ask Santa. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net  
  
  
  
  
  
Okay, so Lex was drunk. Very drunk, in reality, and the fact that he was sitting in his dim library on Christmas Eve couldn't possibly have anything to do with it. The brandy bottle was empty, but he was pretty drunkenly sure it had already been half empty when he picked it up to start with. He reeled across the room and threw open the window, forgetting to brace against the frigid Kansas Yuletide temperature. He pitched the now-useless bottle far out onto the driveway, almost giggling as he thought that the next time the postman delivered the mail he might get a flat. He could hoof it back to town and commiserate with the meter maid.  
  
(Plus, now it was snowing, such a very Smallvillian thing to do on Christmas Eve. This definitely warranted another drink.)  
  
Bastard postal worker anyway. Brought him about 400 Christmas cards this past month, and after opening about half of them, Lex had given up finding one that wasn't stamped with some corporate CEO's name. Even Lionel. Cretin. Signature-stamping his own son's Christmas card. No, it wasn't Lionel. Probably his secretary. Not the executive assistant, surely. Martha Kent would never have allowed such a breach of holiday sentimentality.  
  
Well, except one card. The only one he had noticed with an actual hand-written address on the envelope. He knew the handwriting, of course. Had known it from countless hours of pretending to look over a shoulder at book work, when what he had actually been doing was trying to be close. Useless effort, but the card was nice anyway. Little rustic, snowy rural scene, deer and rabbits capering around a huge, snow-covered fir. Enough to make a person puke. (Mmmm, Lex, best not to think about puke right now.)  
  
He was breaking the seal on another bottle when it came to his attention that someone was standing in the doorway. He had already dismissed all the staff to go home to their families for the holiday eve, nicely generous Luthor thing to do, accompanied by the requisite hefty Christmas bonus envelopes. He knew without looking up that it would be Clark. Clark Kent was the single person on the face of the earth who was allowed to see Lex unannounced. The single person on the face of the earth he didn't want to see right now.  
  
"Clark," Lex boomed in welcome, tipping his refilled glass in the boy's direction. "What can I do for you on this snowy Smallville evening? Would you like a drink? I think there's eggnog in the refrigerator.."  
  
Lex's voice trailed off as he looked a bit closer in the dim light. Clark was standing still in the doorway, frosty white coating his blacker- than-black hair, holiday-wrapped box in his hands. Hurt in his eyes.  
  
"Why didn't you come, Lex?" he asked quietly. "It's Christmas Eve. It was just dinner at the farm, and here you are, all alone and drinking yourself silly instead of being with people who.."  
  
"Despise me?" Lex laughed darkly. "How many extra chores does it take to get Jonathan Kent to allow a Luthor in his house on the holiest of holidays?"  
  
Clark almost took a step into the room, but stopped, still unwilling to let the hurt go. "Mom wanted you there," he said. "It's Christmas, and you shouldn't be here alone. I wanted you there. We had presents." he faltered, raising the box in his hand minutely, and then looking down at the floor.  
  
Lex smirked before he could stop himself. "What? Red Ryder BB gun hidden behind one of the drapes in the living room?" He took another deep drink from the cut crystal in his hand, swallowing around the sudden lump blocking his throat as Clark looked up at him, hurt flaring in his eyes again. The smirk left his face and Lex cursed the alcohol riding roughshod over his sensibilities. No more. If he caused one more flicker of hurt on that wonderful face he would rip out his own tongue with the ice tongs.  
  
He stepped closer and reached up to brush the melting flakes from Clark's hair. The boy almost flinched away from him, but stood his ground. "It's Christmas Eve, Lex," he reiterated, head moving involuntarily into the soft graze of Lex's hand. "It was just dinner. No one should be alone if they don't have to be."  
  
Lex wasn't really listening, although he knew the gist of what Clark was telling him anyway. His senses were occupied with the silken feel of the dark strands weaving through his fingers. Damp, certainly, but incredibly soft, and he wondered idly, somewhere in the back of his mind, how anyone could not want to do this. How could Lana, all the times she and Clark must have been alone at the Talon, how could she resist?  
  
He pulled his hand away guiltily, covering the motion with another swallow of brandy, soft burn in his throat to join with the slow burn in his insides, coiling low, waiting to strike.  
  
"It's Christmas Eve," he agreed. "And actually this isn't how I usually spend it. Normally, we'd be in the penthouse in Metropolis, Lionel and myself, and about a hundred other people who only give a damn about expensive food and drinks. Noisy and horrible, and I am really glad I got to spend this year in peace and quiet. I even lied and told Lionel I was going to be out this evening, so he wouldn't drop by to ask what his secretary bought me for Christmas. Before you showed up, Clark, I was at the window admiring the lovely white Christmas this little burg has been graced with."  
  
Clark shook his head. "Whatever, Lex," he dismissed Lex's little speech with a shake of his head. "Whatever you say. I tried. I've really tried. If you knew how much I... wanted you to be there, how much I don't want to see you alone out here, you would have come. You still can. We have brunch tomorrow, after we open gifts and stuff. You're still welcome to come for that if you want. It'll be just us, so you don't need to worry about politics or gossip or anything. You can be an actual person for a few hours, if you want." Clark's gaze dropped back to the carpet again.  
  
"Anyway, I brought you this. I collected these for you. Merry Christmas, Lex."  
  
He handed Lex the wrapped gift and Lex took it wordlessly, turning around to set it on the desk behind him.  
  
"Are you going to open it?" Clark asked hopefully.  
  
Lex smiled softly. "Can I open it in the morning? Presents are for Christmas morning."  
  
Clark nodded uncertainly. "Sure, I guess. You won't forget?"  
  
"I won't forget. I promise."  
  
Clark's face heated briefly. "I better get home. Mom and Dad are in bed and they don't know I left. I just had to come. Wish you a Merry Christmas and give you your present." He turned to leave the room and Lex couldn't let him, couldn't let him go away hurt.  
  
"Clark," the firm voice stopped Clark in his tracks and he turned back hopefully as Lex stepped closer again.  
  
Lex reached up tentatively and touched Clark's cheek. "Merry Christmas, Clark. I hope you get everything you want."  
  
Clark looked at him seriously. "I wanted you to come tonight, Lex. Maybe next time."  
  
Clark turned away from Lex's hand and walked out of the room, without even a backward glance. Lex's arm stayed where it was, phantom Clark-heat still warming his palm electrically.  
  
Fool, Lex berated himself, heading back to the bar, finishing off the brandy and needing a refill. As he passed the desk, his eyes fell on the gift there. Cute snowman paper, even more vomit-inducing than the handy Christmas Eve snow, but he stopped anyway, intrigued. The question popped into his head; what DO you get for the man who has everything? No way he was waiting till morning to find out.  
  
He sat at the desk and pulled the box closer, hefting it gently and shaking it. Sounded like a bunch of things in there, medium-weight, too heavy to be a shirt, thankfully. Lex couldn't even remember the last time anyone had given him a gift with any actual thought or effort behind it. He looked at the tag; simple To, Lex, From Clark, little holly leaves around the edges. He smoothed his hands across the top and then picked the red bow off gently. Careful opening then, not tearing the paper haphazardly, enjoying the unexpectedly heart-warming moment. Plain white box underneath, looking for all the world like a shirt box anyway, but when he lifted the lid, he went back to the bar for that refill.  
  
Three big gulps of strong liquor to steady his insides. Thought and effort. Lex shook his head. How long did it take? How long for Clark to find and obtain them all. Cars. Little die cast cars, every single one of them a model of one of Lex's actual vehicles. And the note laying atop them, "Just in case you wreck any more of them, you'll have these to remind you. Love, Clark."  
  
Love, Clark indeed. Lots of thought and effort here. There were fifteen or twenty, and Lex knew you couldn't just run down to the local Wal- Mart and pick them up in the 94-cent toy car bin.  
  
Lex took yet another drink, heading back to the bar, trying to decide what kind of wine went well with Christmas morning brunch. 


	2. Resolution

RESOLUTION  
  
By Annie  
  
(sequel to Christmas Eve in the Castle) http://smallville.slashdom.com/archive/15/christmaseve.html  
  
Rated: R, to be on the safe side. Summary: Lex makes a resolution. Disclaimer: Not mine; what a disappointing Christmas all around. (  
  
Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net  
  
  
  
  
  
Resolution: a) the act or process of solving something b) a thing determined upon  
  
  
  
Lex was on pins and needles; a totally inappropriate phrase to ascribe to a Luthor at any point, but the only one that fit nevertheless. Pacing back and forth, unable to concentrate on his laptop, a bad sign in itself.  
  
What the hell, it was New Year's Eve. And instead of drinking it up with some high society types and getting laid by one of them for the New Year, he was pacing in his library. Lex wanted to stay away from thinking about getting laid, at any rate. He had spent most of the day in anticipatory tumescence, waiting for Clark, and finally an hour ago, he'd had to take care of it himself. Wouldn't want to scare the boy away. That would be a hell of a thing for the New Year.  
  
Christmas brunch had gone as well as he could have expected. He had been met at the front door by an inexplicably quiet Clark, not the effusive mass of holiday cheer he had expected. Martha had been warm and gracious, as usual, and Jonathan had seemed to make an actual effort to be civil, most likely in honor of the day. They had graciously accepted the bottles of wine he had given as gifts, probably not even realizing how expensive they were. A little in-joke for Lex to enjoy when he was alone. He had gotten Clark a simple sweater, something his father couldn't possibly have objected to. Although actually, there was nothing simple about it. It was horribly overpriced, but soft and comfortable. Lex had already seen Clark wearing that exact shade of red before once or twice, and it had caused unbearable heat inside his cold Luthor shell.  
  
Now he waited anxiously for Clark to decide to show up. Since brunch had passed with Clark being unusually taciturn, Lex wasn't sure he would accept his invitation to spend New Year's Eve with him. He knew the Kents were really big on families being together on holidays, but he was banking on the hope that maybe Clark had mentioned the invite and Jonathan and Martha would take advantage of having the house to themselves. Have a little New Year's Eve party of their own.  
  
He finally saw the headlights of the Kent's old truck coming up the driveway, and ran behind the bar for a quick, bracing swallow. Faster than he would have thought possible, Clark was standing in the library doorway. Wearing the new red sweater.  
  
Lex felt his heart start to pound, and abruptly realized the absolute futility of his recent self-gratification. He pasted on a smile to cover it up.  
  
"Clark, I'm glad you decided to come."  
  
Clark beamed back at him, more open than he had been at the brunch last week. "Well, you spent Christmas Eve alone, I didn't want you to have to be alone tonight, too."  
  
"You can stay till midnight, right? Or a little past?" Lex asked, practically holding his breath for the answer.  
  
The boy almost blushed. "As a matter of fact, if it's okay, I can stay over till tomorrow, and then I'm supposed to bring you home for New Year's dinner. Mom and Dad thought it might be nice to ring in the New Year with just themselves and a bottle of that wine you gave them."  
  
Lex almost actually grinned. Best laid plans and all, he mused silently.  
  
"Then I have you all to myself," he said quietly. He tore his gaze away from Clark's face with an effort, and went back around behind the bar, opening up the cooler and taking out a tall bottle.  
  
"Champagne is an acquired taste for a lot of people, Clark," Lex said, falling easily into his usual mode of Educating Clark on the Finer Things in Life. "I was thinking you might not like it, so I chilled some Asti Spumante instead. Same bubbles, sweeter taste. Not so dry, as long as you buy the good stuff. Will you have some with me, in honor of the New Year?"  
  
Clark rolled his eyes. "I have had Asti before, Lex," he informed his host patiently. "I have rung in a few New Years, you know. We're simple here, but we're not dry," he finished wryly, accepting the glass, fingertips lightly brushing Lex's as he did, and if Lex didn't know any better, he would have thought it was intentional.  
  
"We have a little while yet till midnight, but here's to a New Year anyway," Lex toasted, inclining his glass toward Clark's.  
  
Clark mirrored his action, touching the rim of his glass softly against Lex's, green eyes holding blue for the briefest moment. "To the New Year," Clark repeated, letting his gaze slide away and sipping at the cool Asti.  
  
Lex couldn't sip, he downed the glass and headed for the bottle again. Anything to move away from Clark, step away from the aura of - something - that was coming off him and filling the room.  
  
"So," Lex began, deliberately not looking at that face, that sweater, that body. "Something new and exciting in your life since last week, Clark? You seem to be in a much better frame of mind that you were at brunch."  
  
Clark smiled quizzically. "I wasn't in a bad mood last week, Lex. It was Christmas. I was having a good time."  
  
Lex skeptically raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm not Martha, Clark. You don't have to cover with me."  
  
Clark took another taste of his Asti appreciatively. "Really, Lex. It was just that I had been doing some hard thinking then. I was trying to figure something out."  
  
"Did you figure it out?" Lex asked casually, fighting to keep his gaze from doing any up and down sweeps of the boy. Didn't he ever look in a mirror? Didn't he know how perfect he was? Lex took another drink to drown a tiny sound trying to escape from his throat.  
  
"Yes, actually, I think I did." Clark stepped closer to Lex and leaned in to reach across him, setting his glass on the surface of the small bar at Lex's back.  
  
Breathe, Luthor, damn you, Lex's brain told him uselessly. Lex's body was not cooperating; in point of fact, the only part of Lex's body that was doing ANYthing was his cock, which was getting really hard really fast. Lex's brain switched the command to Down, boy, but apparently it was too late.  
  
Clark retreated slightly, far enough away so he could stand and speak to Lex comfortably. Lex was breathing again, but his cock had chosen to stay in rigid mode.  
  
"I figured that you like to be alone on holidays because that's the only way you know how to spend them, since you lost your Mom. I figured that you like to give people expensive presents, because you have been taught that the price tag is the bottom line. I figured, seeing the presents you brought on Christmas, that you are learning the price tag isn't the thing. The only thing I had trouble figuring out, Lex, was why you avoid me."  
  
A frown creased Lex's forehead then. "I never avoid you, Clark. I go out of my way to make sure you can always get to me here, or anywhere, even when I tell the staff there are no interruptions allowed. You're the exception to one of my strictest rules."  
  
Clark smiled again, and Lex's heart pumped blood even faster to his groin, a totally unnecessary thing to do. "I know that. I meant, when we're here. Or in the barn, or at the Talon. If I move closer, like this."  
  
Lex tried unconsciously to step back further against the bar, which was futile, as he was already pressed back up against it as if it could ward off evil.  
  
Clark stopped, and his smile faded slightly. ".you do that." He pointed out.  
  
"You're nuts," Lex told him, as his usual fountain of wisdom and big words went dry as the Sahara. His brain wasn't functioning and he was getting peeved about it. He pulled himself together and stood away from the bar, which only resulted in bringing him even closer to Clark. Bad move, Luthor.  
  
Clark shook his head slowly, eyes boring into Lex's, pinning him in place and Lex desperately wanted another drink to dull the desire creeping up his spine and threatening to make him throw the boy onto the floor and...do everything.  
  
"I said I had trouble figuring it out, Lex. But I finally did. I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. And this is Smallville, but we do have modern amenities, like computers, the internet, TV, up to date movies, stuff like that. It took me a little while, Lex, but I did figure it out. And then I made my New Year's resolution."  
  
Lex thought he might be breathing through his mouth, like a drowning man, and he almost laughed, considering their first meeting. He licked his lips minutely, and his heartbeat kicked up another gear as he saw Clark's eyes zero in on the sight.  
  
Okay, he couldn't do this. He couldn't, shouldn't, and any second he was going to. Lex started to move sideways, move away from Clark and get safely behind the bar again, maybe fill up his glass a few hundred more times and liquefy this need away.  
  
A red-sweatered arm shot out beside him to grip the bar, trapping him there. Clark's face was inches away from his, Clark's eyes moving up and down between Lex's mouth and his eyes.  
  
"Clark," Lex started, but he really had no idea what to say. No, wait. "So, you made a New Year's resolution?" he managed to get out.  
  
"Yes, I did," Clark replied. "Don't you want to know what it is?"  
  
"Well, that's a rather personal thing, isn't it?" Lex asked, trying one more time to regain his composure, which seemed to have deserted him in the most dastardly of ways.  
  
  
  
"I resolved," Clark told him quietly," to make you know this is okay."  
  
"This..Asti?" Lex felt like an idiot. There was no way Clark was talking about anything near what Lex hoped he was talking about.  
  
"I don't even have to look down and see you right now, Lex." Clark said, more smugly than Lex liked. "I've seen you lots of times, and it really threw me. But like I said, I had a lot of thinking to do last week, and when you blew us off Christmas Eve, and I got so upset about it, that just made me think harder. You like me, Lex."  
  
Lex laughed, a bit hysterically, he thought. "Of course I like you, Clark, you're my best friend. Hell, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here."  
  
Clark reached over and touched Lex's lower lip gently, almost reverently. "You know exactly what I mean, Lex, and don't try to deny it. Do I need to reach down and feel you to prove it?"  
  
"Clark, we can't.I can't.You don't understand."  
  
"Yes, I do." Clark insisted, gazing into Lex's eyes darkly, crumbling his insides. "It'll be our secret, no one will ever hurt you. No one will ever touch you while I'm alive. Except me."  
  
Clark reached behind to the back of Lex's neck, pulling him into a kiss. Soft and tentative at first. Lex moaned somewhere back in his throat, reservations and determinations flying out of the proverbial window as he felt Clark's tongue invade his mouth suddenly, the kiss becoming hungry and demanding. Clark pressed up against him, pushing him back even harder against the bar. Lex stopped breathing again at the feel of the body crushing his. Clark was warm and Clark was strong and Clark was...hard. Fiery steel rod, wet dream, come in the night hard.  
  
Clark wanted Lex.  
  
Somewhere way behind the exultant rush in his mind, Lex made a resolution to always deserve this.  
  
  
  
Happy New Year. 


End file.
